Belmont not a typical opening test for Tigers

Bruins return 10 players from team that was 30-5

Adonis Thomas, one of eight Memphians on the Tigers' roster, will make his debut when the University of Memphis takes on Belmont.

So much for cupcakes to start the season.

For the first time in the last eight years, the University of Memphis will face a true test to open the regular season today when it takes on 2011 NCAA Tournament participant Belmont at 11 a.m. at FedExForum as part of the opening round of the Maui Invitational.

The Nashville-based Bruins went 30-5 a season ago, losing to Wisconsin in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and are coming off a 77-76 loss at No. 6 Duke on Friday that only further cements their status as one of the nation's top midmajor programs.

"This, I think, could be one of the toughest home games we play all year long; could be one of the toughest games period," Memphis coach Josh Pastner said. "I just think they're a really, really good basketball team. We'll know a lot about our team after (today's) game.

"Win or lose, like I've said many times, it's a long season. You can't get too high with the highs and too low with the lows because, again, our whole eventual goal is to be playing our best basketball late in the year."

Still, the reason Pastner beefed up Memphis' nonconference strength of schedule was so the Tigers would be in better position to earn a top seed in this year's NCAA Tournament.

Out went the Centenarys, the Fairfields and the Savannah States as season openers and in came Belmont, which returns 10 players from a 12-man rotation last year, including leading scorer and former Germantown High standout Ian Clark.

"Could we have not played Belmont as an opener and gone with some different games and played Belmont after? Yeah," Pastner said. "But I thought, man, let's just play Belmont opening game because it gives us a great indication of where we are as a team -- things we do well and things we need to work on."

Pastner, whose Tigers checked in at No. 10 Monday in both the Associated Press and coaches polls, said he expects sophomore forward Tarik Black to be available for today's game. Black was held out of last Friday's exhibition against Christian Brothers with knee soreness as a precautionary measure.

Though Belmont's offense relies heavily on the 3-point shot (the Bruins ranked third in the nation last season in 3-pointers made per game at 9.3), it also has a pair of skilled big men in preseason All-Atlantic Sun selections Scott Saunders (6-10, 250) and Mick Hedgepeth (6-9, 235). The pair combined for 20 points and 12 rebounds against Duke.

The Bruins connected on just 6 of 19 3-point attempts (31.6 percent) against Duke, but outrebounded the Blue Devils 35-34 and forced 19 turnovers.

"They work hard. They're junkyard dogs, and they can score," Black said. "That makes a big man that much more deadly if he can rebound, block shots and box out, but at the same time he can get the ball on the post and do his own thing. That makes him that much better. Yeah, they're a great 3-point shooting team, but they have a great inside too."

Memphis' top priority, however, has to be limiting the Bruins' open looks from 3-point range. Belmont likes to free up shooters with dribble penetration before kicking it out to the open man.

"Run them off the 3-point line and rebound," Black said. "They have good big men, but the majority of their shots are from behind the arc. We can live with a big man getting a point here and there rather than them finding their rhythm and catching fire from behind the arc and now they're knocking down 3-point shots all game. That's really going to kill us.

"So we run them off the 3-point line and when they put up shots, we box out and we rebound, then we'll be all right."

Clark, who averaged a team-leading 12.2 points for Belmont last season, is one of the long-range shooters Memphis will have to account for. The preseason All-A-Sun selection made 72 of Belmont's 327 3-pointers as a sophomore last season.

"I like the start that we have this year, coming out and playing two top-10 teams coming off the year we had last year," Clark said. "We expect to be able to play with big teams and know that we're just not going in just for the experience or just to stay close to them. We're going to win, and that's what we expect."

students urged to go to class

The University of Memphis sent an e-mail to students and faculty on Monday, asking that they not skip classes to attend today's 11 a.m. game against Belmont at FedExForum, which is part of ESPN's 24-hour college hoops marathon. The e-mail from U of M provost Ralph Faudree was sent in response to inquiries from students and faculty. "If you do not have classes scheduled (this) morning, please support the team and attend the game," Faudree wrote. "If you do have classes (this) morning, please attend your regularly scheduled classes."

Pastner calls for "Blue-out"

Memphis coach Josh Pastner is calling for a "Blue-out" at today's nationally televised game. "I'm asking all the fans to come in blue," he said. "We will be wearing our white home uniforms, but everybody come in blue."